Workshop

Intro:

Weston Blaha/DJ Blaha

-Director of Youth and Family at Lakeside Pres

-Finishing up MDiV at RTS Jackson

-On the EPC Denominational Youth Committee

-Chair of the EPC Gulf South Presbytery Youth Committee

-Married, 1 daughter and 1 on the way

Mike asked me to be here today to share my heart and thoughts on Youth Ministry.

The Way I Think:

-Naturally, Not a detail guy

-Not a systems guy, I’m a system minimalist.(SLIDE)

-They don’t always transfer

-17 Systems for…hospitality, greeting, emails, texts, small groups...

-not me. It’s too much

-There is a danger in over-programming and over systemizing ministry

-We lose our sincerity

So, My Goal: To give you the pieces necessary to create/adjust a Philosophy of Youth Ministry that does 5 things:(SLIDE)

Guides your programming

Informs your decisions

Defends your decisions

Demonstrates your matruity

Introduces a standard of expectations

So, this is where we transition to:

Full-Scope Ministry:

What is the goal of youth ministry?

-Reaching the lost?

-Safe space?

-Discipleship?

-Missions?

I believe that youth ministry achieves its primary goal by (1) creating a safe, godly community for believers and unbelievers to fellowship and grow, (2) by demonstrating and training the group to disciple and be discipled, (3) by reflecting the image of Christ by serving people across the street and around the world, and (4) teaching our students how to defend and understand their faith.

Fellowship/Outreach, Discipleship, Missions, Apologetics

I say that, making a few assumptions(SLIDE)

Guys hear me out: The world doesn’t need more good people and humanitarians: It needs Christ.

So for us, a church that is “doing” Full-Scope Ministry is a church that is doing these things consistently and well.

Fellowship/Outreach

Acts 2:42–47 ESV

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

-27

So, Fellowship, Food, Community,

They found favor with all people

God added to their number greatly.

Feels like a youth group meeting.

Something we can pull from this: We are called to create godly community that draws others.

I like to say it like this: Every Fellowship event is a pre-outreach event in disguise.(SLIDE)

Discipleship:

discipleship is the process of guiding another through the truths of the Scriptures in a manner that aides them along the path of sanctification, expands their knowledge of God’s word and improves their ability to do the same for others

Teaching, guiding, equipping.

This is tough, because I am not merely speaking about you discipling them. I’m also thinking about them, discipling others.

Discipleship should matter to us because it mattered to Jesus.

Matthew 28:

Matthew 28:19–20 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Command, for disciples to make disciples.

Author Jared Wilson makes the bold assertion that “Maybe our failure to disciple the converts we make is why we are making fewer converts.” Discipleship is what takes the Christian on milk and moves it to solid food.

Jared Wilson makes the bold assertion that “Maybe our failure to disciple the converts we make is why we are making fewer converts.” Discipleship is what takes the Christian on milk and moves it to solid food.

If for no other reason, Discipleship should matter to us because it mattered to Jesus.

Missions:

Proper Missions requires proper theology.

Yep: You knew the Presbyterian was going to drop theology on you at some point.

Here’s what I mean: Missions has two aspects: Spiritual and Physical.

Spiritual: Professing the Gospel. Telling others about Christ, serving the soul of our neighbor.

Physical: attending to our neighbors physical needs.

Here’s why that distinction is important:

If your students see Missions as simply one more great humanitarian group, then they have completely missed the point of what you are doing.

The church is not called to be humanitarians, we are called to be disciple-makers. And this often looks like humanitarian aid. So it’s important that our kids experience both elements to missions.

I have a pet peeve: Yearly Mission trips overseas as a supplement for local missions.

DO LOCAL MISSIONS. CONSISTENTLY.

“Across the street and around the world.”

Around the world is fun

Around the world is instagram worthy

Around the world is great

But if your neighbor comes at the expense something else, then you have failed part of your calling as the church.

Apologetics

1 Peter 3:15 ESV

15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

We are terrible in this area guys. There are lots of reasons:

Kids don’t like to memorize things

For 7 hours a day, they sit in school and get taught that Christianity is wrong(at least about science)

We think this means being experts in Science, when it really means being experts in what God has done in our lives.

In our nation’s history, we have the most anti-Christian aggression we have ever seen.

Colleges will try to smother Christianity out of our kids.

And we send them off with butterflies and daisies.

There needs to be a time of hard, challenging, thinking challenging our students on a consistent basis.

Full-Scope: Fellowship/Outreach, Discipleship, Missions, Apologetics.

If you are curious about how we do these things at Lakeside, I would love to chat with you about it afterwards, but first, I’m going to give you a shameless 90 second plug for R3 Curriculum.

R3 came from something that I do with every activity/program/teaching/event.

I ask: Is is Relevant, Is it Re-Imagined, is it Relatable. If I could’t answer “yes” to those questions, We didn’t do it.

Sent it to Mike...

Time2020

Follow-up Series to this weekend

“Gathering10”